District Judge David Berchelmann is expected to sign an order today that hands another defeat to the city as it attempts to build a controversial drainage project to alleviate flooding at Broadway and Hildebrand Avenue.

Berchelmann told attorneys in the case Tuesday that he will support opponents who have sought to block the city from using 2007 bond proceeds for the $9 million project.

In a hearing last week, the city's lawyers said that, while the judge could prevent San Antonio from spending 2007 bond money on the project, he couldn't stop the use of other funds.

Attorneys for the Headwaters Coalition and the River Road Neighborhood Association, who sued to stop the altered project, argued that if the judge simply barred the city from spending bond proceeds, it would move forward on the work using other funds and render their lawsuit obsolete before a full trial could occur.

Bebb Francis, a lawyer and lobbyist for the neighborhood association, said the judge's decision was a big victory for the plaintiffs.

“It's very significant because the city was arguing that they had the right to use general fund dollars or other sources of dollars to build a project different than what was approved by the voters,” he said.

Berchelmann previously announced he would grant the plaintiffs' request for a temporary injunction. The order that he's to sign today will spell out the details.

Matthew Wymer, one of the trial lawyers in the case, said that as he negotiated with city lawyers on language for the order, it became clear to him that San Antonio could attempt to build the project using other funds.

The basis of his case was that the city had made such substantial changes to the drainage project that it no longer fit within the intent of the voter-approved bond projects.

“We specifically crafted the order the court has before it to prevent the city from coming up with a technical method of circumventing the order itself,” he said, noting the judge could make changes to the order before signing it.

The drainage project is designed to remove flooding from the Broadway-Hildebrand intersection. Voters approved a bond project that would route the flooding beneath Broadway, from 150 feet north of Davis Court to Carnahan, where a drainage ditch perpendicular to Broadway enters the San Antonio River.

But engineers for the city said after the bond was approved they determined it would be more efficient and cost effective to take the water from Broadway down Hildebrand to the river.

That alternative spawned opponents who fear it will harm the river's headwaters.

Wymer said the order Berchelmann is expected to sign would bar the city from building a drainage route beneath Hildebrand and it would prevent the construction of a massive outfall on the river at the historic Miraflores Park, just south of Hildebrand.

The only construction that would be allowed under the order, Wymer said, would be the original project outlined in the 2007 bond.

Francis, who was on the Tuesday conference call, said it included conversation about the city's intent to appeal Berchelmann's ruling, which likely would delay the start of the full trial.

City Attorney Michael Bernard said, however, that “there will not be a decision made for several days.”

City spokeswoman Di Galvan said Bernard's statement on behalf of the city was the only that would be made Tuesday.

“This is a win for public trust,” Francis said. “The public needs to be assured that bond projects they vote on will be built without change.”